Johannes in retroland

Few episodes in Canadian history have so captured imaginations as the fabulous Klondike Gold Rush, 1897-8. Thousands of adventurers and fortune seekers faced the rigors of the trail to dig for gold along creeks feeding the Klondike River. Dawson, a trading post on a mud flat at the confluence of the Klondike and Yukon Rivers, mushroomed in a single season to a sprawling boom town, made up of log and frame buildings, and tents. Some 5,000 people from the four corners of the earth arrived at Dawson. At the height of the gold rush, 1898-9, the itinerant population of Dawson was estimated between 20,000 and 30,000, making it the largest Canadian community west of Winnipeg. The excitement quickly petered out after the turn of the century, with the formation of large corporations which bought up individual claims. The Klondike continued to produce gold in abundance for a number of years.

Bron: pc.gc.ca